DEN03LA060

Factual narrative

On March 29, 2003, at 1622 mountain standard time, a Cessna 170A, N5577C, was substantially damaged when it nosed over during takeoff roll at Lea County Regional Airport, Hobbs, New Mexico. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. The flight was being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight that was originating at the time of the accident. The pilot had not filed a flight plan. The pilot said that the wind was "fairly calm" [variable at 5 knots] when tower cleared him for takeoff on runway 30. "Everything appeared normal" he said, and the takeoff roll was right on the centerline. The airplane accelerated through 35 to 40 miles per hour, and he pushed the yolk forward to lift the tail wheel. "In a couple of seconds, we were heading left at an estimated angle of approximately 30 degrees to the centerline." He applied a lot of right rudder, but the airplane continued left. The pilot said that as he approached the edge of the runway, he "applied full brakes, this resulted in the nose going down and the prop [propeller] began striking the runway." The airplane left the runway, struck a concrete block (which held a runway light) and nosed over. The right wing was bent up, the vertical stabilizer and the firewall were bent, and the fuselage was wrinkled. The wind was variable at 5 knots. The pilot said that takeoff roll appeared normal, but when he raised the tail wheel, the airplane veered to the left. He said that "a lot of rudder" did not correct the heading deviation. As the airplane approached the edge of the runway, the pilot applied full breaks, and the airplane nosed down. Subsequently, the airplane struck a runway light cement foundation, and nosed over. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12